Windmill.



I LA VERNE NOYES.

WINDMILL. APPLICATION FILED- NOV. 3. 1915.

Patented June 20, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

LA VERNE NOYES.

WINDMILL.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3. I915.

Patented June 20, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- LA VERNE NO'YJES, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 AERMOTOR COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

WINDMILL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 241, 1916..

Application filed November 3, 1915. Serial No. 59,343.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that T, LA VnRNn NOYES, citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of llllinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Windmills, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to wind mills and has for its object the provision of improved bufling mechanism for limiting the wind mill vanes to their ranges of travel upon and with respect to the mill heads carrying them, when the mill is being placed in or out of the wind. The abutments which act as stops to limit the vane travel may be, and preferably are, rigid (being preferably parts of the mill head) the resilient means for cushioning the blows of the vane upon its stops being carried by the vane itself. This means includes arms-pivotally mounted upon the mill head, these arms being adapted to swing with relation to each other and with respect to the mill vane, abutments carried by the mill vane and between which the outer ends of the arms are disposed, and a resilient spreader holding the arms toward their abutments and relatively positioning the arms to enable them to engage the mill head structure to cushion the vane in its opening and closing movements.

T will explain my invention more fully by reference to the accompanying drawings showing the preferred embodiment thereof and in which- Figure 1 is a view in elevation, partially in section, of a wind mill embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a somewhat diagrammatic view showing a lever arrangement; Fig. 3 is a, view on line 3 3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4: a of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a view on line 5 5 of Fig. 4:; Fig. 6 is a detail; and Fig. 7 is a detail.

Like parts are indicated by similar characters of reference throughout the difl'erent figures.

The wind mill shown has many features which are disclosed in a co-pending application for United States Letters Patent, Serial No. 6,323, filed February 5, 1915,though the invention is not to be limited to any particular type of wind mill.

The wind wheel 1, having a horizontal axis, is mounted upon a shaft which carries spur pinions 2 in mesh with spur gears 3 that operate pitmen t having connection at their upper ends with the load rod 5. The wind wheel is mounted upon a mill head 6 which is afi'orded an upright axis of rotation by being mounted upon the shouldered end of a stationary vertical pipe 7 at the upper end of the mill tower and through which pipe the load rod passes.

The mill vane 8 is journaled at 9 upon the mill head to swing about an upright axis, the vane being moved toward and from the wind wheel when the latter is respectively to be placed out of and in the wind.

A swinging arm 11 is afforded an upright axis of movement by being mounted upon a vertical bearing shaft 12 fixed upon the mill head with the load rod between and preferably substantially equidistant from the mounting shafts 9 and 12. The long branch of arm 11 is flexibly connected with one end of link 13 whose other end moves a finger 13 operatively forming a part of the link, which operates to engage and move the vane toward the wheel in the furling operation, but from which finger the vane may move toward the wheel in governing. A lever rod 14: connects a vertically movable furling collar 15 with the arm 11 near the connection of said arm with link 13, which link is also preferably a rod.

The vane shaft 9 is located between the vane ends of rods .13 and 16 that afiord flexible connection between the furling collar 15 and the outer ends of an arm 8 pivoted between its ends upon upright shaft 9. In the furling operation, link 13 pulls upon one end of arm 8 and rod 16 pushes upon the other end of this arm to cause finger 13 .to push the vane 8 to a closed position. The form of flexible connection between the rod 14 and arm 11 and of lever rod 16 with the arm 8 may be generally of the nature illustrated in Fig. 6. The lower ends of lever rods 14: and 16 are bent to extend horizontally there to be journaled in horizontal bearings 17 formed on top of the furling collar 15 and on opposite sides of its axis and equidistantly from its center. The collar 15 is in assembly with a, flanged sleeve 18 (loosely surrounding pipe 7), the flange of the sleeve 18 having connection with the upper end of push rods 19 whose ends are connected with one end of a lever 20 whose other end carries a pull wire 21 accessible from the ground. The collar 15 and the rods 14 and 16 will turn with the head and with reference to sleeve 18 which is only vertically movable.

lVhen the wire 21 is pulled downwardly (after which action it is hooked at its lower or ground end), the rods 19 are consequently pushed upwardly to cause the flange of sleeve 18 to push the furling collar up, to swing the mill vane from its positionwhen the wheel is in the wind to a position in which the wheel is out of the wind, this latter position being indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. Because of the illustrated location of the shaft 9 between the adjacent ends of lever rods 14 and 16 and the manner in which these lever rods are connected with the furling collar, the force applied by the diametrically opposite upwardly pushed rods 19 is so distributed that the furling collar will not have forceful lateral engagement with the sleeve 18 and the sleeve will not have binding engagement with the pipe.

Two arms 22 and 23 are pivotally mounted upon the mill head, the pivotal axes of these arms being desirably co-incident with the pivotal axis of the mill vane since these three elements are desirably mounted upon the same vertical shaft 9. The mill vane and each of the arms 22 and 23 are capable of independent movement about the shaft 9. A spring 24, which is preferably a coiled spring, exerts spreading action between the arms 22 'and 23, one end of the spring 24 receiving a circular lug 25 carried by the arm 22 while the other end of such spring receives a circular lug 26 carried by the arm 23. A rod 27 is anchored at one end to the stem of the mill vane and passes through the circular lugs 25 and 26 and the bore of the coiled spring 24. The rod 27 terminates at its outer end in a hook 28 that constitutes an abutment for engaging the arm 22 to limit the extent to which this arm may move in a counter-clockwise direction with respect to the mill vane. This rod also carries an abutment 29 for engaging the arm 23 to limit the extent to which this arm may move in a clockwise direction with respect to the mill vane. When the spring 24 is in normal position it spreads the arms 22 and 23 apart and maintains them in engagement with their respective abutments 28 and 29. That is, the spring 24 constitutes a resilient spreader for spreading the arms apart but will permit either arm to move toward the other to cushion the blows that arise when the mill'vane is swung to its open and closed positions. The arm 22 is of service to cushion the mill vane when the vane is brought to open position, the arm 22 having a lug 30 that may strike an abutment portion provided upon the mill head,

the spring 24 then yielding'toward the abutment 29, the circular lug 25 pressing upon the left hand end of the spring and moving away from the abutment 28, the lug 25 thus constituting a spring follower. The arm 23 is of service to cushion the mill vane when the vane is brought to closed position, the arm 23 having a lug 31 that may strike an abutment portion provided upon the mill head, the spring 24 then yielding toward the abutment 28, the circular lug 26 pressing upon the right hand end of the spring and moving away from the abutment 29, the lug 26 thus constituting a spring follower. The long spring 32 serves to hold the vane in either of its open or closed positions and when the vane is in a closed position the finger 33 forming a continuation of the lever mechanism, serves to engage the brake band 34 to check the rotation of the wind wheel, as set forth more fully in my said co-pending applicationthis feature forming no part of my present invention.

While I have herein shown and particularly described the preferred embodiment of my invention I do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction shown as changes may readily be made without departing from the spirit of my invention, but

Having thus described my invention I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent the following 1. A wind mill including a rotatable wind wheel; a swinging mill vane; a mill head upon which are mounted the mill wheel and mill vane; arms pivotally mounted upon the mill head, these arms being adapted to swing with relation to each other and with respect to the mill vane; abutments carried by the mill vane and between which the outer ends of the arms are disposed; and a resilient spreader holding the arms toward their abutments and relatively positioning the arms to enable them to engage the mill head structure to cushion the vane in its opening and closing movements.

2. A wind mill including a rotatable wind wheel; a swinging mill vane; a mill head upon which are mounted the mill wheel and mill vane; arms pivotally mounted upon the mill head, these arms being adapted to swing with relation to each other and with respect to the mill vane; abutments carried by the mill vane and between which the outer ends of the arms are disposed; and a resilient spreader in the form of a coiled spring interposed between the outer ends of the arms for holding them toward their abutments and relatively positioning the arms to enable them to engage the mill head structure to cushion the vane in its opening and closing movements.

3. A wind mill including a rotatable wind wheel; a swinging mill vane; a mill head upon which are mounted the mill wheel and mes es mill vane; arms pivotally mounted upon the mill head, these arms being adapted to swing with relation to each other and with respect to the mill vane and having a common pivotal axis which is also the pivotal axis of the mill vane; abutments carried by the mill vane and between which the outer ends of the arms are disposed; and a resilient spreader interposed between the outer ends of the arms for holding them toward their abutments and relatively positioning the arms to enable them to engage the mill head structure to cushion the vane in its opening and closing movements;

4;. A wind mill including a rotatable wind wheel; a swinging mill vane; a mill head upon which are mounted the mill wheel and mill vane; arms pivotally mounted upon the mill head, these arms being adapted to swing with relation to each other and with respect Will to the mill vane and having a common pivotal axis which is also the pivotal axis of the mill vane; abutments carried by the mill vane and between which the outer ends of the arms are disposed; and a resilient spreader in the form of a coiled spring interposed between the outer ends of the arms for holding them toward their abutments and relatively positioning the arms to enable them to engage the mill head structure to cushion the vane in its opening and closing movements.

In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 28th day of October A. D. 1915.

LA VERNE NOYES.

Witnesses:

J. P. CONDON, J. FLANIGAN. 

